How to Make Oven-Smoked Pastrami

Making pastrami is a time-intensive process that can take nearly two weeks, so only a few delis bother to do it by hand (read our story about the pastrami purists here). In our fairly traditional version, a whole brisket is cured with sugar, spices, and salt for a week, then oven-smoked using an easy technique the CHOW Test Kitchen developed for making bacon without a bulky, expensive smoker. Finally, the cured and smoked brisket is steamed until it's tender, yielding juicy pastrami that tastes like beef and smoke, not just salt. Try it in a Reuben sandwich, on top of a latke, or even in a savory pie!